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Aesthetics

In this section, dive into conversations focused on beauty, taste, and the artistic choices made while creating performance. Check out Brendan McCall’s Beyond Ibsen series, which features contemporary Norwegian theatremakers, and Jonathan Mandell’s essay “Pandemic Theatre Aesthetic,” which discusses the immediate artistic responses of theatremakers in the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

The Latest

The Making of the Shiny Knight of Chicanos, Part Two
Essay
The Making of the Shiny Knight of Chicanos, Part Two
A Conversation with Octavio Solis
by Glenda Y. Nieto-Cuebas, Erin Cowling, Octavio Solis
11 April 2023
The Making of the Shiny Knight of Chicanos, Part One
Essay
The Making of the Shiny Knight of Chicanos, Part One
A Conversation with Octavio Solis
by Glenda Y. Nieto-Cuebas, Erin Cowling, Octavio Solis
10 April 2023
Surviving in the States: Audience Rejection on the Road with Oklahoma!
Essay
Surviving in the States: Audience Rejection on the Road with Oklahoma!
by Christopher Bannow
3 April 2023
A smiling man lifts a sword in one hand and holds onto a bike's handlebar with the other.
The Making of the Shiny Knight of Chicanos, Part Two
Essay

The Making of the Shiny Knight of Chicanos, Part Two

A Conversation with Octavio Solis

11 April 2023

Glenda Y. Nieto-Cuebas and Erin A. Cowling continue their interview with Octavio Solis, focusing primarily on the development of his most recent adaptation from Spanish Baroque literature: Quixote Nuevo.

Three performers stand in front of a fire-like backdrop where a sign above them reads "Bienvenidos a Ciudad Juarez."
The Making of the Shiny Knight of Chicanos, Part One
Essay

The Making of the Shiny Knight of Chicanos, Part One

A Conversation with Octavio Solis

10 April 2023

Playwright Octavio Solis reinvents early modern Spanish theatre in several of his plays, often instilling these classics with a Texano perspective. Glenda Y. Nieto-Cuebas and Erin A. Cowling interview Solis about his adaptation process and the way that growing up on the Mexico-United States border has shaped his work.

Two people speaking on stage with one person standing behind them.
Surviving in the States: Audience Rejection on the Road with Oklahoma!
Essay

Surviving in the States: Audience Rejection on the Road with Oklahoma!

3 April 2023

The 2022 national tour of Oklahoma! brought Daniel Fish’s critically acclaimed revival to commercial theatre audiences nationwide. Those audiences met the production with overwhelming disapproval and animosity rooted in its departures from decades-old conventions. Actor Christopher Bannow, who played Jud in the touring production, details his experience of enduring audience rejection while remaining committed to engaging audiences in challenging conversations through risky theatrical choices.

A still from Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World.
How Javaad Alipoor’s Fourth World Trilogy Disrupts What We Think We Understand About History, Politics, and the Internet
Essay

How Javaad Alipoor’s Fourth World Trilogy Disrupts What We Think We Understand About History, Politics, and the Internet

14 March 2023

Joseph Dunne-Howrie examines the way that three of Javaad Alipoor’s plays infuse the internet into theatrical performance, creating intersecting narratives that interrogate identity formation in the age of global interconnectivity.

An actor dressed as President Zelensky points a prop gun at an unseen target.
Reflecting on the Timeliness of Polish Theatre at Kraków’s Divine Comedy Theatre Festival
Essay

Reflecting on the Timeliness of Polish Theatre at Kraków’s Divine Comedy Theatre Festival

2 March 2023

The Divine Comedy Theatre Festival in Kraków, Poland explored the theme of “Polish Taboo” across its thirty-two productions this year. Howard Shalwitz, who attended the festival as part of an American delegation of artists building connections between the United States and Poland, shares his experience attending the festival.

An actor sits on a pure white stage with a white background and a human-sized laptop behind them.
Exodus and the Autobiography of War at Tbilisi International Festival
Essay

Exodus and the Autobiography of War at Tbilisi International Festival

5 January 2023

Yaşam Özlem Gülseven interviews Mikheil Charkviani about his work on Exodus, a production that traded grand historical narratives for granular perspectives on the impact of war in Georgia. Their interview, like the production, hinges on an important question: how do we learn to live with the past?

Two performers embrace each other with their foreheads touching.
The Queer Theatre We Need Now
Essay

The Queer Theatre We Need Now

13 December 2022

David Valdes explores the limitations of queer theatre historically and makes the case for a more expansive future—one that includes a wider range of characters living more complex lives, created by more queer theatremakers.

Critical Stages in Malawian Contemporary Theatre teaser image with the title at the top and a picture of the guest in the middle.
Melding Spoken Word Poetry and Theatre in Malawi
Podcast

Melding Spoken Word Poetry and Theatre in Malawi

16 November 2022

What does the voice of this millennium sound like? In this interview, Khumbolane Chavula provides one answer to that question by splicing together theatre, poetry, and entrepreneurship as the founder of Millesimal Poetry.

A performer in a wheelchair suspended in midair by a wire.
Moving from Disability Visibility to Disability Artistry
Essay

Moving from Disability Visibility to Disability Artistry

20 October 2022

Morgan Skolnik argues for theatre that goes beyond physical accessibility and disability representation to actively center disabled artists and the creative potential the disability community holds.

Concept art for a mostly red stage with a starry sky backdrop.
Practical Artificial Intelligence for Stage Design
Essay

Practical Artificial Intelligence for Stage Design

6 October 2022

Projection designer David Forsee, who brings artificial intelligence into his own design workflow, creates a toolkit for other designers interested in effectively and ethically integrating text-to-image models into their design processes.

Five people sitting around a table on stage.
Polish Connections: A New Generation of Theatre Linkages Between the United States and Poland
Essay

Polish Connections: A New Generation of Theatre Linkages Between the United States and Poland

19 September 2022

For the past two years, LINKAGES: Poland has convened theatre leaders from Poland and the United States to discuss fieldwide issues. When three theatremakers who have been deeply involved in the project traveled from the United States to Poland this summer, they were struck by the changing landscape of Polish theatre and its parallels to the US theatre industry.

Daughters of Lorraine Podcast teaser.
I Write What Comes Up in My Body: Robbie McCauley's Theatre
Podcast

I Write What Comes Up in My Body: Robbie McCauley's Theatre

24 August 2022

In this episode, Jordan Ealey and Leticia Ridley look at the life and legacy of playwright Robbie McCauley, who recently passed away. They discuss her work as a pioneer of solo performance as a Black woman and how she impacted the world of Black feminist theatre.

Daughters of Lorraine Podcast teaser.
Writing Detroit: Dominique Morisseau’s Practice of the Possible
Podcast

Writing Detroit: Dominique Morisseau’s Practice of the Possible

10 August 2022

Jordan Ealey and Leticia Ridley interview award-winning and acclaimed playwright Dominique Morisseau about her recent Broadway productions of Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations and Skeleton Crew; the future of Detroit theatre and performance; and reckoning with American history. Ealey and Ridley discuss Morisseau’s practice of reparative creativity and the ability for theatre to serve as a rehearsal for true change.

A woman in a traditional garb stands outside facing an audience.
“The Ills We Do, Their Ills Instruct Us So”: Indigenous Futurism at the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival
Essay

“The Ills We Do, Their Ills Instruct Us So”: Indigenous Futurism at the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival

25 July 2022

Robert Hubbard discusses the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival production of Othello, which Tara Moses adapted and directed through an Indigenous Futurist lens. The resulting production employed its Shakespearean source text to model solidarity between Tribal Sovereignty and Black Liberation movements.

Full cast sit together for a picture.
Seeing Double: Double Consciousness as a Black Theatre Practitioner
Essay

Seeing Double: Double Consciousness as a Black Theatre Practitioner

14 July 2022

Ekemini Ekpo applies W.E.B. Dubois’ concept of “double consciousness” to the experience of performing Blackness for a predominantly white audience that may or may not be interested in disturbing the primacy of their own lived experience.

Creating a Space for Black Theatre Audiences
Podcast

Creating a Space for Black Theatre Audiences

With Addae Moon

29 June 2022

This episode is an interview with Addae Moon, the associate artistic director at Theatrical Outfit in Atlanta, Georgia. We discuss his journey as a theatre artist; his playwright development lab, Hush Harbor Lab; and his own artistry and creativity.

LTC attendees standing in front of a mural at Su Teatro.
Why Comedy? Why Now?: On the 2022 Latinx Theatre Commons Comedy Carnaval
Essay

Why Comedy? Why Now?: On the 2022 Latinx Theatre Commons Comedy Carnaval

23 June 2022

Trevor Boffone reflects on the 2022 Latinx Theatre Commons (LTC) Comedy Carnaval that convened at Su Teatro in Denver, Colorado, which was comprised of productions, readings, panels, and special sessions that showcased the depth and range of Latinx comedy in theatre.

 

A shirtless man holds up a book.
Learning from Sources: Performance and Climate Crisis in Four Brazilian Works
Essay

Learning from Sources: Performance and Climate Crisis in Four Brazilian Works

20 April 2022

In Martin Domecq’s contribution to the Climate Emergency series, he puts four Brazillian performance art pieces in conversation to draw upon the poetic, political, and civic lessons they offer. These performances—which range from installations to solo and group performances—model possible paradigms that work against ecological crisis.

Six black actors on stage under multicolored lights.
Audience Behavior in the West and Africa
Essay

Audience Behavior in the West and Africa

3 February 2022

While performing across the West and in Africa, Misheck Mzumara noticed stark differences in typical audience behavior. He discusses those differences, their cultural contexts, and their impact on theatremakers’ experiences in cross-cultural theatre productions.

Two actors on the set of The Elephant Man.
Naming the Trope: A Deep Dive into the Harmful Uses of Disability Stereotypes in the American Theatre
Essay

Naming the Trope: A Deep Dive into the Harmful Uses of Disability Stereotypes in the American Theatre

3 January 2022

From the “Gentleman Freak” to the “Rage-Filled Recluse,” simplistic tropes limit popular representation of disabled individuals. Ben Ranaan explains these tropes and advocates for more complex portrayals of disability in theatre and other media.

A grey-colored person looking off to the left with colorful flowers bursting from their head.
The Realm of the Senses: Theatrical World-Building for Social Activation
Essay

The Realm of the Senses: Theatrical World-Building for Social Activation

26 August 2021

In this entry of Devising Our Future, Aly Perry asks, “How might we position and design theatre as an essential space for healing, pleasure, and connection through an intertwining and interdependent realm of the senses?

event poster with headshot of dora arreola.
Master Class with Dora Arreola: Developing a Concept
Video

Master Class with Dora Arreola: Developing a Concept

With the National Institute for Directing and Ensemble Creation

Saturday 15 May 2021
United States

Pangea World Theater and Art2Action presented a Master Class with Dora Arreola livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 15 May 2021 at 12 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 2 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 3 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

poster with headshots R to L: Candrice Jones, Heather Raffo, and Tamilla Woodard.
ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION: New Frameworks for Performance—Now and Beyond
Video

ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION: New Frameworks for Performance—Now and Beyond

With Candrice Jones, Heather Raffo, and Tamilla Woodard

Tuesday 27 April 2021
United States

Playwrights' Center presented ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION: New Frameworks for Performance—Now and Beyond with Candrice Jones, Heather Raffo, and Tamilla Woodard livestreaming on the global, common-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network on Tuesday 27 April 2021 at 5 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 7 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 8 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

Puppet is standing behind a desk made to scale with tiny lamp and white phone. Newspaper clippings compose the backdrop.
Puppets in Space
Essay

Puppets in Space

Dramaturgical Thinking and the Mosaic Scale for Puppetry

9 April 2021

Emily LeQuesne discusses space as it relates to puppetry and shares a practical, five-step dramaturgy system for puppet theatre, which she developed, called the Mosaic Scale.

Set of Double Edge Theatre's production of "Leonora, la maga y la maestra".
Leonora Carrington and the Theatre
Video

Leonora Carrington and the Theatre

With Susan Aberth and Double Edge Theatre

Sunday 7 March 2021
United States

Double Edge Theatre presented a conversation between Double Edge Artistic Director Stacy Klein and renowned Surrealist scholar Dr. Susan L. Aberth livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Sunday 7 March 2021 at 12 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 2 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 3 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).